For many years, vehicle tail lights and brake lights have generally comprised red colored lights on either side of the back of the vehicle. In some cases, tail lights and brake lights are separate and in others the tail light and brake light functions are combined in a single light. In either case, tail lights are illuminated when the vehicle's headlights are on to make the vehicle visible from behind. A switch triggered by depression of the brake pedal inside the vehicle causes the brake lights to light red or, in the case of combined function lights, causes the single function light to illuminate or increase in brightness when the brakes are applied. This warns that the vehicle is braking so that vehicles behind can prepare to slow down or stop to avoid a rear-end collision.
In recent years, vehicles have increasingly incorporated a third or auxiliary rear facing brake light to enhance the warning when brakes are applied. In some instances, the auxiliary brake light is located in the middle of and high on a vehicle so that it can be seen easily when the traditional side brake lights are obscured. In other cases, such as with Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) the auxiliary brake light may be a string of light emitting diodes (LEDs) that curve upwardly along the sides of a vehicle to a height where they are easily visible from behind. Other variations exist, but the end result is that the addition of auxiliary brake lights is more effective than a simple pair of brake lights on either side of the vehicle.
Some types of vehicles know as off-road vehicles usually carry a spare tire on the back of the vehicle. The spare tire has a rim fastened to threaded lugs of a support structure and a tire mounted to the rim. Such vehicles include, for example, the very popular Jeep® Wrangler® and the Jeep® CJ® model off-road vehicles. These vehicles may be equipped with a factory auxiliary brake light perched atop an arm just above the upper tread of the spare tire. While this arrangement does provide an auxiliary brake light, the light is relatively low on the vehicle and does not provide the unignorably vivid display from behind that some Jeep® owners' would prefer. Further, many owners of off-road vehicles exchange the stock-sized wheels (and thus the spare tire) for larger diameter wheels better suited for off-road terrain. The larger spare tire can cover the stock auxiliary brake light or require its removal, rendering the auxiliary brake light ineffective. Even raising an off-road vehicle through suspension modifications can cause the auxiliary brake light to be obscured from behind by the now higher-up spare tire.
Attempts have been made to provide an auxiliary brake light for off-road vehicles that is visible, vivid, and distinctive from behind regardless of the size of the spare tire and regardless of the height to which the vehicle is raised. For example, some have mounted lights behind the spare tire aligned with openings between spokes of the rim. When the vehicle's brakes are applied, these lights illuminate and shine through the openings in the rim to be seen from behind. One problem is that there are many rim designs with different patterns of spokes and openings and each requires its own pattern of lights that align with the openings. In other words, one arrangement of lights is not universal to all rim designs. Further, the lights must be mounted in a particular rotational alignment with the rim in order for them to line up with the openings and are thus not universal in this regard either. In addition, most of the light shines directly through the rim openings, which can make the rim itself hard to see at night.
A need exists for an auxiliary brake light configured to be mounted behind the spare tire of an off-road vehicle that is universal in that it works well with wheels of all designs and does not need to be rotationally aligned with the rim. A further need exists for an auxiliary tail light or brake light that does not render the rim dark and hard to see at night but rather emphasizes the rim. This provides an even more vivid and hard-to-ignore appearance when brakes are applied. It is to the provision of a universal auxiliary tail light that addresses these and other needs that the present invention is primarily directed.